Artistry In Glass Dale Chihuly’s Powerful Sculptures Find A Fitting Venue In The New Jundt Art Center
If the gray skies of winter have already started to put thoughts of tropical getaways in your mind, the solution is right around the corner at Gonzaga’s new Jundt Art Center.
The Art Center opens today with an absolutely breathtaking exhibit of Dale Chihuly glass, an experience which offers the vividness of walking through a hothouse full of exotic plants or swimming along a fertile ocean reef. The entire Spokane community can celebrate the arrival of both the Jundt Art Center and the Chihuly exhibition with opening activities beginning this morning at 11.
Chihuly’s glass sculptures represent the height of innovation in contemporary glassmaking.
Upon first impression, it is difficult to view the cool, composed beauty of the display and realize the forces of controlled chaos, heat, and sheer physical effort that produce such fragile results. While keeping in mind the unusual and difficult demands of glassmaking techniques, one has no doubt that Chihuly’s creations are extraordinary.
Scale alone is a major factor; the strength required to create pieces of this size is considerable, and the speed and immediacy of the process while shaping the molten glass gives no room for mistakes, no time for pause and deliberation. Every step must be controlled to the last degree; one piece from beginning to end might take two hours (or less), and those two hours are full of constant motion, heating and cooling. A few degrees deviation may make the difference between cracking a piece and giving it strength; even the cooling process must be carefully managed over a 48-hour time frame.
There is certainly more to Chihuly’s glassmaking than these crucial issues, and that “more” is the distinction of the artist’s creative vision. Included in the exhibition are series of Chihuly paintings that provide insight into this vision.
Chihuly begins any idea with the colored abstract sketches, which are later used as designs for the glass objects. Although one thinks of the glass blowing as the most physical part of the process, Chihuly calls this stage of drawing the design a very “physical” action. Watch him paint, or see the end results on paper, and you will know why.
Despite the lack of tradition in Chihuly’s art, the glass sculptures represent a classicism that appeals to a wide range of tastes. Perhaps that is because in series such as the Sea Forms and the Macchia, Chihuly draws his inspiration from the source that always provides the best material: nature.
Numerous works are on display, continuations of previous series which are presented in new ways, such as the use of the rock bed beneath the Nimima Sea Floats.
A focal point of the exhibition is the Chihuly chandelier, which was a gift commissioned by Jim and Joann Jundt and Duff and Dorothy Kennedy for Gonzaga’s permanent collection. Eighteen feet long and suspended from the ceiling of the Art Center’s reception area, the chandelier consists of hundreds of individually blown glass pieces. The result is compelling, and will be kept lighted at night for passers-by to enjoy through the surrounding windows.
Like the chandelier, the exhibition works as a whole built upon many individual parts. The overall effect of a room full of Chihuly sculptures is a key part of this exhibition. Works are on the floor, on the walls, on tables and on pedestals, and the results bring the area to life.
The Macchia Forest sketches toward the lighting like giant flowers leaning toward the sun, and the Nijima Sea Floats rest on a bed of rocks as if luminous growths rising from an ocean floor. There are 300 colors in the glass-making vocabulary, and one doesn’t doubt that Chihuly has used most of them.
Once the viewer is in the presence of these surroundings, the inclination is not to leave.
The Art Center’s design provides the perfect platform for the Dale Chihuly exhibition. The lighting system, which was installed specifically for the Chihuly sculptures, transforms the pieces as if they were lighted from within. The portable walls have been arranged so that each component of the show is a separate environment.
Move toward the Persians suspended from the far wall, and you are bathed in the crimson light reflected from their luster.
Undoubtedly, the Jundt Art Center space allows the visitor to get the most from this Chihuly exhibition. Also important, the Chihuly exhibition provides the impact to get the most out of the new Jundt Art Center space.
Everyone should see this exhibit, and if possible, find a time when the center is not crowded and try for a moment alone in the gallery. The impression from that first visual intake, and the experience of beauty and peace, will last.
xxxx GRAND OPENING The Jundt Art Center opens to the public today with a dedication ceremony beginning at 11 a.m. Regular gallery hours will be 10 a.m.-4 p.m. weekdays, noon-4 p.m. Saturdays. The Chihuly exhibition runs through Dec. 15. For more information, call 328-4200.